Will you pay or receive money from your ex on a monthly basis?

A divorce proceeding can order two types of financial support: child support and spousal maintenance. The two are calculated very differently. They also have different tax implications and extend for varying lengths of time.

Child Support

Child support is made up of three components: basic support, medical support and childcare support.

Basic support is determined largely by state guidelines, which consider both parents’ incomes and the allocation of parenting time. If one parent is the primary parent, he or she will typically receive child support from the other parent. If both parents have approximately equal parenting time, and have approximately the same amount of income, then basic support would typically not be ordered. Conversely, if both parents have approximately equal parenting time, but one parent makes significantly more than the other parent, then the parent with the greater income will pay child support to the other parent.

For medical support, parents typically pay health insurance premiums and uninsured health expenses in proportion to their individual incomes as a percentage of their combined income. In other words, if one parent makes $60,000 and the other parent makes $40,000, they would pay 60% and 40% of the medical expenses, respectively.

Childcare expenses are treated like medical expenses, except the person paying the childcare costs typically receives a tax credit. That tax credit is included in calculating who pays what for child care. In the example above in which the parties’ incomes were 60% and 40%, if one party spent $1,000 on childcare costs but received a $200 tax credit, then the remaining $800 would be divided based on the 60/40 split of costs.

Child support payments are paid with after-tax dollars. That is, whoever pays child support does not deduct those payments from his or her income when doing their annual taxes, and the recipient of the child support does not have to pay taxes on the child support payments received. Child support typically continues until the youngest minor child turns 18 and is no longer attending high school.

Exceptions do apply to most of these rules, and the nuances can be tricky. If you and your spouse can’t reach an agreement on these issues, it might be time to consult with your DIYVorce team for other options.

 

Start the divorce process today

By joining as a free member, you will receive:
  • Access to our flat-fee legal documents and services
  • Access to our library of resources and how-to articles
  • Access to our professional resources to provide assistance when you need it

Free Registraion

Terms of use

With your free diyvorce membership, you will receive access to a document assembly system that is developed and used by top Minnesota divorce lawyers. First, you choose the package of documents you need. This could be the documents required for a full divorce settlement or a smaller set of documents needed at any stage of a divorce. For example, you can purchase only the documents to start your divorce, or only to respond to a divorce, or just the documents needed prior to a hearing. As a member, you will have access to all package options.